Bob O'Brien

Display Market Outlook

This presentation will focus on three elements:

• How COVID-19 Affected Key Display Markets and Panel Suppliers
• How geopolitical and macroeconomic events in 2022 are Impacting the Display Market
• Display Market Outlook

Of course, COVID-19 caused a monumental change to the display market, first for the better as it pulled in demand for IT and TVs, and more recently for the worse as the hangover sets in. It led to record price increases and record 2021 profits for panel makers which resulted in increased capacity investments. Higher capacity, reduced demand and excess inventory now have the industry down in the dumps.

The display industry must also manage new disruptions to both supply and demand in 2022 including the Russia/Ukraine crisis, COVID-19 shutdowns in major cities in China, significantly higher energy prices, rising inflation and rising interest rates. DSCC's latest forecasts will reflect these issues.

Display markets are rapidly evolving as OLED vs. MiniLED LCD competition heats up. OLEDs will keep getting better with tandem OLED stacks, phosphorescent blue OLED emitters, G8.5 oxide backplanes and other innovations, boosting display brightness and lifetimes while lowering cost. In the LCD camp, MiniLED backlights bring premium performance with costs that are expected to fall rapidly. While LCDs and OLEDs continue to improve, the emerging threat of MicroLEDs looms.

With that perspective, I will share DSCC’s view on the display market outlook with the latest forecasts for revenues and units by application, display technology, area, panel costs, Korea vs. China competition and more.

The TV Market Post Pandemic

The TV industry benefited from increased demand during the pandemic, and companies throughout the display supply chain generated unprecedented profitability. Demand for LCD TV panels drove the most volatile Crystal Cycle in the history of the industry, with the longest and highest price increase and the fastest price declines ever. This presentation will review the state of the industry for major brands and panel makers, and the battle for the premium TV segment among competing brands and technologies.

The premium TV space drives display innovation for improvements in brightness, color, resolution, contract, and other metrics. We will outline the technology battle between OLED and LCD today and show how DSCC expects this battle to play out as new technologies like QD-OLED, MiniLED, and MicroLED emerge and evolve. We will draw from DSCC’s reports on TV cost and advanced TV shipments and describe the strategies of major global TV brands as they compete for the premium TV market.

Robert J (Bob) O’Brien is Co-Founder and CFO of DSCC. Bob has decades of experience turning market and business analysis into strategic insights in the display and electronics industries. At DSCC, Bob takes the lead role in analysis of display materials, including glass and AMOLED materials, and covers developments in TV and other large-screen display applications. He is the principal author of DSCC’s AMOLED Material Report, the Advanced TV Shipment Report, and the Display Glass Report, and Bob contributes regularly to the DSCC Weekly Review.

Working at Corning from 2005-2016, as Director of Market Intelligence and Strategy for Corning Glass Technologies Bob developed an intelligence infrastructure to inform pricing strategy, product development, marketing communications and customer service strategy. He also developed external communications for investors and customers to realize Corning’s industry leading position.

Bob led the CGT intelligence team in building critical tools for analysis of both short- and long-term dynamics in the LCD industry. In response to Corning’s vulnerability to supply/demand swings, Bob developed an analytical model for predicting glass demand based on the supply/demand dynamics of the LCD value chain. The output of this model is frequently quoted in Corning’s earnings release and other communications. To increase understanding of the long-term dynamics of TV replacement, Bob led the efforts on consumer survey work to understand the replacement cycle of TV. As the cover glass market matured, Bob led the effort to explore and develop the Gorilla glass business in emerging markets.

Prior to Corning, Bob worked in engineering, product marketing, finance, and business intelligence for Philips Display Components and LG.Philips Displays. At Philips, Bob led a multi-division team evaluating potential opportunities in large display technologies, with comparative market and technology analysis of LCD, PDP, CRT, and projection. Bob prepared and executed financial and marketing expertise on the plasma display business for the due diligence process during the 2001 international merger which formed LG.Philips Displays.

Bob holds a BS in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School. He lives in Ann Arbor, MI with his wife Mattie and three sons. He can be reached at bob.obrien@displaysupplychain.com.